Genesus ships large amount of breeding pigs to China

Manitoba, Canada based genetics company Genesus has shipped a large amount of breeding pigs to the Cofco corporation, one of China's larger agribusiness and diversified food companies.

The breeding pigs were shipped from Winnipeg Airport, on Sunday, May 29. The shipment, destined for Wuhan, China, contained over 800 head, included registered Genesus Purebred Yorkshire, Landrace and Duroc breeding stock.

Cofco is owner of 5% of Smithfield Foods, the world's largest hog and pork producer – and Cofco, having 45,000 employees, is the major Chinese grain trading company.

The Chinese company intends to spend $588 million on a pig complex investment in Tianjin, China, for 2 million live hogs per year.

“The COFCO contract is another step for Genesus as we grow our business. The agreement is a recognition of our Global genetic product and marketing efforts,” said Mike Van Schepdael, vice-president Genesus.

The Canadian breeder is the largest register of swine breeding stock in the world with markets in North and South America, Asia and Europe.